Rolling hatch beam track



Feb. 3, 1948. J, DEEGAN I I 2,435,196

- ROLLING HATCH BEAM TRACK I Filed Dec. '28, 1944 WWW 112' f GENE Y Patented Feb. 3, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROIEJJIIN GI HATCH BEAM TRACK Joh1r-G..Dc.eg an, New York, N. Y.

Application December 28, 1944, Serial No. 570,196

7 Claims. 1-

This invention relates to. a, track to be assoiciatedwith the hatch coamings of. a-ship to support rollinghatch beams.

Ordinarily the hatch-beams of'a cargo: ship are hoisted: from the hatch openings and stored on deck whenever cargo isbeingloaded or unloaded. This is an expensive, time-consuming operation and valuable deck space is: sacrificed for the storage of these beams; Various suggestions have been made for mounting rollers on the ends of the hatch beams and rolling these beams. to the end of the. hatchway during the cargo loading and unloading operations. But numerous diificulties have" arisenin these suggestions, particularly with respect tothe design of the track to be employed andthe method of. connecting it to the hatch. coamings.

It is an. object. of this invention. tov provide a hatch. beam; track: which may be. pits-fabricated in a; shop and thereafter: secured to the hatch coamingwitl r aminimum. of trouble. and expense and WhiCh.Wll1i' provide a. track contour of improved design;

Another objject: is to. provid axtrack' having. across section. of such design: as: will prevent the beam rollers from, leaving the; track, or becoming: jammed therein, and which, at the sametime, Will notofferprojections extending into the hatch so as tointerfere witinor'beinjured by, the raising. or lowering of cargo. through the. hatch.

Still another object. is to provide a: track or: considerable-cross sectional strength, which, when: secured-to thehatch coaming, willserve to stiffen.

t-hatmemben. Theitrackfmay also cooperate'with the hatch. beams. in. supporting the hatch plank,- ing, or covers.

With these and other objects inview, the invention maybe understood by reference. to: the

following description, taken in conjunction with thedrawing inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a view in cross section through a hatch coaming and a preferredform of track, showing in elevation a hatch beam and its associated rollingmechanism;

Fig. 2 is a substantially similar view showing aslightly differentcoaming arrangement; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the preferred form of track.

Referring tothe drawing, the numeral I indicates a, hatchbeam whichis adapted to berolled to. one end, or the other, of a hatch to permit the loading, or. unloading, of: cargo through the hatch. Each hatch has a sufiicient number of such beams to support the weight of the cargo to be-carried in the hatch area, or to support" the weight of seas which may: break over the hatch,

in the uppermost, or shelter, deck of the ship. At the ends of these-beams'there are one or more rollers 2 by means of which. the beams maybe rolled in the track" 3-, the construction of which is hereafter described.

As shown in- Figs. 1: and 2, the beams I are in the. lowermost, or resting. position, being supported by the cleats,. or shoulders, 4 secured; to the coaming 5'. These. cleats preferably (but'not necessarily) extenditherfulllength of. the coaming so that the beams i may be supported in any desired. location. When it' is desired to roll the beamsto one end; or the other, of the hatch, they must: be lifted above the cleats 4' and. be carried: by the rollergzi supported by the track 3. Likewise, after the beams have been positioned where desired, their weight is preferably taken off the rollers 2i, and track. 3,. by lowering'them ontothe cleats 4 as shown in: the drawing. Themeansfor'thus' raising: and lowering the beams is indicated generally'bythe numeral 6 representing a liftingtmechanism which. supports the rollers Z and which carriedzby'a'bra cket T- bolted as shown at 8", or otherwisesecured to thebeam l-.

Since this lifting mechanism and its supporting" means form=- no part of therpresent invention,,it need not be further described herein. A preferred arrangement is disclosed in copending application Serial No. 573,347; fi'ledJanuary 18, 1945.

Referring nowtoliig. 3,, a preferred form: of: track will. be=-described.-. It comprises a central, roller: supporting section 9- in which the-rollers 2' are adapted to roll, althoughsome sliding action may occur; This tread sectionis substantially G.-sha-ped with. the vertical portion. thereof restingagainst the coaming S as shownin Fig. 1,..and. its

edges I U-encom-passthez'rollers zato-such anextent as to prevent these rollers from jumping, or pulli-ng out of, thetraek; Above the upper edge I'll, thetrack: has a; portion llinclined. upwardly and towardithe coa-ming; 5'. The: uppermost part: 1-2

is substantial-1y flat and; extends to the.- warmingtozwhich. itmaybe welded. From therlower. edge: mot the C-sectiona downwardly inclined-portion: l-3 a1so extends'to the coamingandmay be welded.

9, by deflecting cargo away from the tread portion should the track be struck during the loading or unloading operations. Also these portions deilect particles of bulk cargoes which might otherwise accumulate in the tread portion and bind, or prevent, proper rolling action, or sliding action. If, however, such accumulations do occur, the tread portion is readily accessible for cleaning without dismantling any part of the apparatus.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be observed that when the hatch beams are in resting position, the top track portion [2 is substantially on the same level as the top of the lifting mechanism 6 and the top surface of the hatch beam 1. This arrangement enables the hatch planking, or covers, to lie substantially flat on the hatch beams and the track provides additional support for these covers adjacent the coaming 5.

Referring to Fig. 2 a slightly different form of hatch coaming is shown. In some ship constructions the hatch coaming has a horizontal extension secured to its upper edge, such as the channel member 14 shown in this figure. With such an arrangement it is generally desirable to form the track so that its lowermost portion 15 extends vertically'from the lower edge H) of the C-section to the channel [4, to which it may be welded.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the exact details of construction shown and described since various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A hatch coaming track integrally formed from fiat metal stock for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a central concave tread portion, upper and lower portions extending from the upper and lower edges of said tread portion for supporting the same, the outer edges of said upper and lower portions being adapted to abut the hatch coaming and to be fastened thereto to support said track in fixed engagement with the coaming.

2. A hatch coaming track for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a generally c-shaped central concave tread portion, upper and lower portions extending to the adjacent coaming and to the upper and lower edges of said c-shaped tread portion for supporting the same, said supporting sections being inclined away from the hatch opening and having edges adapted to be secured to the coaming.

3. A hatch coaming track integrally formed of sheet metal stock for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a generally C-shaped central web having a concave tread portion conforming substantially to the outline of the track wheel and upper and lower supporting sections attached to the adjacent coaming, and to the upper and lower extremities of said central web, the vertical 4 portions of said web abutting the coaming and said supporting sections being inclined away from the hatch opening, and said track being free of projections beyond the tread portion in the direction of the hatch opening.

4. A hatch coaming track integrally formed of sheet metal stock for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a substantially c-shaped web portion having a tread surface in the lower curved portion of said web conforming substantially to the outline of the track wheel, upper and lower portions extending from the upper and lower edges ofthe web portion and having their outer edges connected to the adjacent coaming, said track being free of projections beyond the tread portion in the direction of the hatch opening and serving to reinforce the coaming for supporting the weight of the hatch beams.

5. A hatch coaming track for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a generally C-shaped web portion having a concave tread surface conforming substantially to the outline of the track wheel, upper and lower members, extending from the upper and lower edges of the web portion and connected along their outer edges with the adjacent coaming, the part of the upper portion adjacent the coaming being substantially fiat and lying in the plane of the top surface of the hatch beam when it is in resting position, said track being free of projections beyond the tread portion in the direction of the hatch opening.

6. A hatch coaming track for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a web member having a vertical portion abutting against the coaming and having a concave tread surface conforming substantially to the outline of the track wheel, an upper flange extending from the edge of the web member, including a rearwardly inclined portion and a substantially horizontal area adapted to support hatch covers, the edge of said flange being connected with the coaming, and a lower flange extending from the other edge of the web member also connected with the coaming, said track being free of projections beyond the tread portion in the direction of the hatch opening.

7. A hatch coaming track integrally formed of sheet metal stock for supporting rolling hatch beams comprising a generally C-shaped web member including a concave tread surface, an upper portion extending from the upper outer edge of the web member to the adjacent coaming and a lower portion extending from the lower outer edge of the tread surface of the web member vertically downward to the adjacent coaming, said track being free of projections beyond the tread portion in the direction of the hatch opening.

JOHN G. DEEGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 408,502 Morley Aug. 6, 1889 1,052,072 Lively Feb. 4, 1913 2,332,306 Deegan Oct. 19, 1943 2,332,386 Lemon Oct. 19, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 257,358 Great Britain Sept. 2, 1926 

